Henry e



(ModeL) H. E. GILSON.

TRUNK. V

. No. 269,569. Patented Dec. 26, 1882.

in place.

UNITED STATES ATENT @FFlCltic HENRY E. GILSON, OF SOMERVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNORTO CROUCH & FITZGERALD, OF NEW YORK, N4Y.

TRUNK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No.269,569, dated December 26, 1882.

Application filed August 21, 1882. (hlodeh) To all whom it may concern:

- Be it known that I, HENRY GILsoN, of Somerville, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented an 1m proveinent in Trunks, of which the following is a specification.

Trunks have been made in which the corners have been protected by caps made of rawhide, and these have been riveted to the body of the trunk, such body being either of wood, leather, or vulcanized paper or fiber.

My invention is made for the purpose of strengthening the hunter or protector of the angle or corner of the trunk; and itconsists in the combination, with such bunter, ofa metal frame adapted to rest upon and be riveted to the rawhide corner, so that the rawhide will be protected, especially at the corner of the trunk, from the concussion and abrasion incident to ordinary usage, and the rawhide, being tenacious and tough, will serve to hold the parts of the corner together when secured thereto-by nails or rivets.

In the drawings, Figure l is an elevation of the trunk-corner with the protector or bunter Fig.2 is a perspective view of the corner-piece at the corner of the trunk, and Fig. 3 is a section at the line or a The corner-piece a, of rawhide or similar material, is formed up to shape while in asoftcondition, so as to bewithout seam. It is of a shape adapted to the corner of the trunk over which the same is to be applied. It usually corresponds to the corner of a cube, with the apex slightly rounded. Each of the three edges or angles of the corner-piece is rounded, and the rawhide 'cornerpiece is protected by a frame, b, of malleable iron or similar metal, such frame having ageneral triangular form,

and the bars are curved to conform to the shape of the surfaces of the corner-piece. This frame is secured to the rawhide corner-piece by the rivets at r), and there are bolts or rivets at 0 0 passing'through the frame I) and through the trunk to hold the same in place. This triangular frame I) does not cover the corner, but it is sufliciently near to the corner to protect the same, and there are tongues 2 2 2 extending outwardly toward the corner for the purpose ofprotectingtherawhidefrom abrasion. These tongues approach sufliciently near to the corner to form this protection, and at the same time, the frame 1) comes far enough back from the corner to have a broad bearing and a securefasteniug. Theseinwardprojectionsalone may be used; butit is preferable to place knobs 3 upon the surfaces of the frames to form an additional protection to the corner of the trunk. The flat-ended knob 3 is specially adapted to the bottom of the trunk to form a foot or support, as seen in Fig. 1, and the other knobs 3, with rounded edges, are better adapted to the sides and ends, as their surfaces are beveled, so as to slide upon any obstruction with which they may be brought into contact in handling the trunk.

When this improved corner-piece is applied to the lower corners of the trunk the edges of the rawhide are fastened to the trunk by nails or rivets. When the said corner-piece is applied to the upper corners of the trunk it will usually form part of the border or valance that sustains the lid or top of the trunk against lateral motion by extending below the edges of such lid and lapping upon the body ofthe trunk at the corners. Cornerw pieces or hunters have before been applied to the top of the trunk, but they were not reliable. I make use of the strap-piecef, bent to correspond with the edges of the rawhide and riveted to the same and to the trunk, so as to form a very strong support for the valance at the angles or corners.

The corner-piece may be made of leather instead of rawhide, if desired.

The angle-pieces m, that are provided for strengthening the edges of the trunk, are made with ranges of tongues extending out in oppo-- site directions upon the surfaces of the trunk, soas to be firmly secured at the ends by nails or rivets, and there are openings at thejunction of the bases of the tongues, as seen at 'n. These lighten the angle-piece without interfering with its strength.

I do not claim a metal corner-piece, nor a trunk of rawhide, or bindings of rawhide for a trunk, as these have been used. My triangular corner-pieces, being open, surround but do not form pointed projections at the corner, 1

and donotcoverthe corners themselves. Hence in rolling a trunk around there is no angle to be battered, and the trunk is rolled upon the edges of the end much more easily, and the tongues running out toward the corners increase the strength of the corner-pieces and take a broader bearing upon the trunk.

I claim as my invention- 1. As an improved article of manufacture, the metal frame b,'\vith a central aperture, through which the rawhide corner-piece projects, such frame surrounding the apex of and being attached to the rawhide corn er-piece and to the trunk, substantially as set forth.

2. As an improved article of manufacture, the open metal frame I) surrounding the corner and having the tongues 2 projecting along HENRY l5. GIBSON.

Witnesses:

LtNUs M. CHILD, M ARCELLUS COGGAN. 

